The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 227 Wang Xifeng's audacity is outrageous

Knowing what mistake Wang Xifeng made was good news for the Jia family.

At least it will allow them to prepare for mistakes, so that even if Wang Xifeng is eventually taken away, they will have a way to deal with it.

Upon hearing Jia Zheng's affirmative reply, everyone's eyes were once again fixed on him.

Jia Zheng, of course, was not going to mince words. At this point, there was no need for him to cover for Wang Xifeng, and he was prepared to tell everyone what he knew.

Before speaking, however, he dismissed all the servants present, leaving none by his side.

Clearly, what he was about to say was not something the servants should know.

After the servants left, he spoke:
"The mistake that Lian Ge's daughter-in-law made was the renovation of Prince Yi's mansion."

"The Prince Yi's Mansion?" Jia Jing asked in confusion. How did his family get involved with the Prince Yi? And as the current de facto controller of the Jia family, how could he not know about this?

Jia Zheng nodded and said, "Yes, it is indeed the Prince Yi's residence. Brother Jing should know that the Crown Prince and the three princes moved to another palace some time ago."

The Prince Yi's residence was converted from an empty courtyard, and this renovation work was taken over by Lian Ge's daughter-in-law?

"Really?"

"what?"

"Is there anything else going on?"

The few influential members of the Jia family were all taken aback and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

At this moment, even the old lady who had just been comforting Wang Xifeng couldn't help but stare in surprise at her granddaughter-in-law who was still crying beside her.

This wasn't because the Jia family was making a fuss, but because what Wang Xifeng did was quite unexpected.

As a daughter-in-law of the Jia family, she not only showed her face in public and went out to do this kind of work, but judging from the current situation, she was doing it on her own without the Jia family's knowledge.

Sensing the change in Grandmother Jia's attitude, Wang Xifeng also became somewhat frightened.

In fact, when Jia Zheng mentioned the Prince Yi's residence, she knew that what she was doing was about to be exposed.

However, at first she still harbored a fantasy that Grandmother Jia would continue to protect her as she had done before.

However, seeing Grandmother Jia's sudden change of attitude, Wang Xifeng also realized the reality.

That's probably true. The reason why Grandmother Jia risked defying the imperial decree to protect Wang Xifeng was because Wang Xifeng was a daughter-in-law of the Jia family.

If someone were to take her away from the Jia family at will, it would be a disgrace to the Jia family, and even more so to her, the person with the highest status in the inner quarters of the Jia family.

Therefore, Grandmother Jia's various defenses were actually for the sake of the Yan family's reputation and her own dignity.

But now the situation is different. Instead of protecting the Jia family, Wang Xifeng's acceptance of the project can be said to have been using the Jia family's reputation for her own personal gain.

This approach is fundamentally in conflict with Grandmother Jia's interests, so it is impossible for Grandmother Jia to protect Wang Xifeng in this matter.

Disturbed by Wang Xifeng's matter, Grandmother Jia also snapped out of her anxious state.

When she was no longer distracted by other things, Grandmother Jia became that shrewd old lady again.

She stared wide-eyed and looked around, taking in the expressions of everyone in the courtyard.

Then he turned to Jia Zheng and said, "Tell me, what's the official explanation for Feng's matter?"

Jia Zheng said, "I am not entirely clear about the details of the matter. I was just chatting with some colleagues at the yamen today when I went to report for duty."

Someone informed him that the Emperor was sending people to investigate the shoddy workmanship during the renovation of Prince Yi's mansion. This person also told his son that the renovation project was undertaken by the Geng family of Marquis Changping and our Jia family.

At first, the son didn't believe it, but later when an official came to him with a palace token to question him, the son realized that our Jia family was indeed involved.

After the official was dismissed, the son inquired around and found out that it was Lian-ge's daughter-in-law who had taken the lead in doing this for the Jia family.

After finding out the details, the son rushed home, hoping to come up with a solution sooner, but he was too late.

After saying this, Jia Zheng also looked somewhat dejected.

He was actually quite frightened today. Just think about it, being questioned directly by someone with a palace token in the yamen is no simple matter.

In the past, officials who encountered such incidents would generally be imprisoned.

Even if you are indeed wronged, you still have to go through the motions if you are involved.

Fortunately, Jia Zheng was lucky, or rather, the emperor did not intend to make things difficult for him. After verifying the information with him, the emperor let him leave.

Otherwise, the Jia family would not be facing the news that Jia Zheng has returned to deliver the message, but rather the news that the only member of the Jia family in officialdom is imprisoned.

At that point, let alone protecting Wang Xifeng, it would be a miracle if the Jia family didn't fall into chaos.

Although Grandmother Jia did not know what Jia Zheng had just experienced, she understood her son and knew from his current state that something else had happened.

However, she also knew that this was not the time to ask about other things. The most important thing now was to find out exactly how serious Wang Xifeng's mistake was.

So she asked Jia Zheng, "Have you found out exactly what mistake Feng'er made, and how she got the job of renovating the Prince Yi's Mansion?"

Jia Zheng said, "I'm not too clear about these things either. Why don't you ask Lian-ge'er's wife?"

Grandmother Jia originally planned to find out the whole story from Jia Zheng and then force Wang Xifeng to tell the details, so as to prevent Wang Xifeng from being too audacious and lying.

But since Jia Zheng doesn't know, she can only listen to what Wang Xifeng has to say.

“Feng girl, just tell me what really happened. You need to explain everything clearly. If you still try to hide it now, no one can save you.”

At this moment, Wang Xifeng dared not cry out loud; she could only fill her eyes with tears and feign pitifulness.

But having lived in this wealthy and powerful family for so many years, Grandmother Jia had seen all sorts of vixens, and there was no way she could soften Grandmother Jia's heart.

Moreover, seeing that Wang Xifeng was timid and hesitant, and had not spoken for a long time, he even scolded her:

"What time is it? Stop dawdling here. Hurry up and tell us so we can help you find a solution."

Wang Xifeng knew that she couldn't avoid this matter any longer, so she decided to tell the whole story.

However, before speaking, she subtly glanced at Madam Wang.

At this moment, Madam Wang secretly glanced at Wang Xifeng. When Wang Xifeng looked over to dismiss her, Wang Xifeng didn't immediately look away, but stared directly at her, giving her a rather meaningful look. After that, Madam Wang naturally looked away. Seeing this look, Wang Xifeng seemed to understand something, and her face grew even more sorrowful.

At this point, she stopped arguing, but before speaking, she first admitted her mistake:

"Grandmother, I know I was wrong. I hope you will help me out, considering how filial I have always been."

Upon hearing this, Grandmother Jia snorted coldly and said, "Now that you know you're wrong, if you want my help, then explain things clearly and frankly."

Wang Xifeng said, "Let me tell you. When it comes to this matter, my granddaughter-in-law did have selfish motives and wanted to earn some money, but she never thought of cutting corners in the Wang Mansion."

You know your granddaughter-in-law; she wouldn't have the guts to do such a thing.

What she said seemed to make a lot of sense, but Grandmother Jia didn't really believe her now. She didn't react to her words, but simply asked:

How did you get this job?

Wang Xifeng said, "How could my granddaughter-in-law, a mere woman, find such connections? It was the eldest daughter-in-law of the Geng family of the Marquis of Changping who asked someone from my granddaughter-in-law's family to come and mediate with her. Moreover, she said that this matter had been approved by the master of the mansion, so my granddaughter-in-law unwittingly joined forces with them."

Although what Wang Xifeng did was indeed very unethical, this passage was spoken with great skill.

First, she stated that she did not organize this matter; it was just that someone approached her, and she did it in a convenient manner. She also pointed out that Jia Zheng was involved in her doing this.

Upon hearing her words, Jia Zheng's expression changed. He disregarded the fact that the person in front of him was his nephew's wife and rebuked her:

"Don't talk nonsense. I have no idea about this. How could I possibly give my approval?"

Jia Zheng was a man who cared a great deal about his reputation. How could he tolerate Wang Xifeng tarnishing his name in front of everyone?

Seeing this, Wang Xifeng didn't directly refute, but stammered:

"They said that this matter had been approved by the master, and since you are in the Ministry of Works, without your approval, why would anyone come to our family to find money?"

After Wang Xifeng said that, everyone felt that it made sense.

The Geng family of Marquis Changping was previously quiet and had little influence among the nobles.

But now they are the Crown Princess's family, and will definitely be the Emperor's brother's family in the future. They are also at the height of their power right now.

If there were no other reason, why would a family like that go to such lengths to separate such a job when they received it?

Moreover, when the division was made, why did they choose the Jia family instead of other families? You should know that the Jia family and the Geng family did not have a close relationship before.

The reason for this is likely due to the existence of Jia Zheng.

Although Jia Zheng was only a minor official in the Ministry of Works, his official position was not very high.

However, given the prestige of the Rongguo Mansion and the long tenure of the Ministry of Works, arranging such matters was not too difficult for them.

So, according to Wang Xifeng's account, the story is that Jia Zheng discovered a money-making opportunity, then approached the Geng family, and the Geng family, through Jia Zheng's arrangement, had Wang Xifeng act as the liaison, ultimately leading to a collaboration between the two families to make money.

Although this conjecture has many flaws, it is currently the only plausible explanation.

However, Jia Zheng, the person involved, clearly disagreed with this statement.

He said directly, "That's utter nonsense. In all my years in the Ministry of Works, have I ever done anything like this to seek personal gain for my family?"

Furthermore, do you think I'm the only official in the Ministry of Works? Go and ask around. The Geng family has a distant relative who also works in the Ministry of Works. Even your Wang family has someone working in the Ministry of Works.

If nothing unexpected happens, it must be these two families working together to do this, otherwise why would they target you specifically and not the rest of the Jia family?

"Think about it, everyone. If I were to send someone to take on work from the Ministry of Works, even if I wanted to ask the closest person in the household, I would ask Lian-ge'er, not his wife."

In the end, for some unknown reason, Jia Zheng stared at Lady Wang several times with wide eyes.

Meanwhile, Madam Wang lowered her head and looked at the ground with a worried expression, like a Buddhist layperson who practices vegetarianism and chants Buddhist prayers.

It's unclear whether the worry on her face was for Wang Xifeng, for Jia Zheng, or for herself.

When Jia Zheng mentioned that there were members of the Geng and Wang families in the Ministry of Works, everyone understood.

It seems that things are as Jia Zheng described: the Wang and Geng families joined forces to take on this task, while the Jia family only held the title.

Moreover, at this moment, Jia Zheng recalled what had happened at the yamen earlier. Why did the constables only ask him a few questions and then take no further action?

It must be that the officials had already investigated the matter thoroughly and found out that Jia Zheng was not involved, which is why they let him go.

This guess is pretty close to the truth, but Jia Zheng can't say it outright here.

Thinking of this, Jia Zheng continued:

“Lian’s daughter-in-law, now that you’re in the Jia family, don’t do anything that’s disloyal. Let the Wang family take the benefits, but let the Jia family bear the bad reputation.”

This statement carries a very heavy weight in this day and age.

Not only was Wang Xifeng terrified and turned pale upon hearing this, but even Madam Wang, who was pretending to be dead, stared at Jia Zheng in astonishment.

It's important to understand that Lady Wang and Wang Xifeng belong to the same Wang family. Jia Zheng's accusations were not only damaging to Wang Xifeng, but also intimidating to Lady Wang.

Like Jia Zheng, Lady Wang valued her reputation and couldn't tolerate Jia Zheng speaking like that.

So, after realizing what had happened, she wanted to have a serious talk with Jia Zheng.

However, Grandmother Jia was shrewd and knew that she couldn't let Lady Wang get involved at this time, otherwise, after finally getting to this point, Lady Wang would surely disrupt things.

So she spoke to Wang Xifeng before Lady Wang could:
“Feng girl, I know you’re not the kind of person who would abandon your family, but since this has already happened, you should try your best to explain the whole story clearly so as not to wrong you.”

Although Wang Xifeng didn't know why Grandmother Jia had changed her attitude and helped her at this time, she dared not miss such an opportunity.

He quickly replied, "Grandma, you know I'm not the kind of person who betrays others; I just want to earn a little pocket money."
Moreover, I didn't hide the money I earned. The jewelry I gave to you, my dear mother, and my sisters a while ago came from that money.

Moreover, I handed over a portion of it to the household, keeping only a small portion for myself. You can ask Madam if you don't believe me."

The "wife" that Wang Xifeng refers to is naturally Madam Wang.

When she suddenly heard Wang Xifeng say this, her face, which had just been furious because of Jia Zheng's words, showed a momentary look of shock and anger.

Fortunately, she reacted quickly and hid her shock and anger before anyone could see her.

(End of this chapter)